A few years ago, I discovered the YouTube channel Toy Polloi, which offers both reviews of vintage toys and documents repair work to those that are damaged. Through this channel, I learned that there are pens available which can (re)apply chrome to toys where it has worn away. These pens are made by Molotow, and come in a variety of nib sizes. This information I squirrelled away until, after my birthday this year, I found myself with some Amazon vouchers left over, and decided to treat myself.
Now, it's been years since I did any proper customisation on any of my TransFormers toys, most of which was to underpainted movie toys (no surprise there) and was not exactly extensive or detailed. The idea of being able to add chrome via what is essentially a felt-tipped pen, rather than brushes, was instantly appealing, and I started combing through my collection to pick out toys that would benefit the most from some added shine.
It turned out to be quite a fussy process: the 'ink' takes absolutely ages to dry properly (I found that best results were achieved by leaving it for 24 hours, just in case) and, in the meantime, is uncommonly easy to smudge, smear, or ruin with fingerprints. Nevertheless, the results so far have been more than satisfactory.
I started out with the Power of the Primes Evolution Optimus Prime - which had already had some Reprolabels added - applying chrome to the combined form's thighs, smokestacks and battlemask... but quickly extended coverage elsewhere. Here's an in-progress picture, to compare before (left leg) and after (right leg, smokestacks, battlemask, grilles):
The end result is, I think, a huge improvement on the stock figure, with far less investment of time and effort than traditional painting methods. I added just a few touches on Orion Pax, but plenty of highlights on vehicle mode and the combined form. I didn't quite get all the glue off his vehicle mode petrol tanks, so they look a bit rough, but I'm otherwise quite satisfied. The combined mode probably still needs more red on the torso and more blue on the lower legs, but that's a more significant undertaking:
After this, it seemed logical to give the Evolution Nemesis and Rodimus Prime figures similar treatment, both of which turned out to be easier, if only because I didn't have the faff of trying to remove Reprolabels from them, or cleaning off the glue left behind. Nemesis Prime's battlemask is narrower and partially covered by the sides of the helmet, making it far more difficult to cover effectively, but that worked out pretty well also. I didn't apply as much chrome to the robots themselves, instead taking the opportunity to make his weapons stand out a bit more. For Rodimus, I didn't go far beyond the most obvious: the exposed engine block, the exhaust pipes and the wheels.
I also had a go at Tyrannocon Rex, since she's so bereft of painted detail, though I decided to be a little more sparing with her initially, just touching up her robot mode chest, pelvis and thighs, later adding a touch of chrome to the left arm's bicep and elbow, and the launchers mounted on her hips. It was tempting to try to highlight the 'teeth' on her collar as well, but I think I'd need a finer nib to avoid making a mess there:
Next up, I took a look at some Studio Series toys: Sideways, Hot Rod, Jolt and the Bumblebee movie Optimus Prime. Sideways was desperately in need of additional paintwork for his robot mode, and chrome seemed like the ideal choice. It was a bit fussy to apply, and I ended up giving him a pretty extensive coverage on his arms and legs, but I think the end result is a massive improvement on the stock figure. Hot Rod only got a few touches on his robot mode's detailing, but I may go back and chrome his wheels. Jolt, similarly, only got a few touches, and I'm still debating whether or not to add some chrome to his whips. Prime got similar treatment to the PotP version - wheels, smokestacks, the backplate of the cab, rear bumper, then thighs, inner chest panel and a few of the mechanical details. Some of it wasn't as neat as my earlier efforts, but by this point, the pen's nib had started to fray a little.
The last figure I've worked on - so far - is a much older one: Generations/Reveal the Shield Jazz... for which I've still not done a write-up. Now I have to decide whether to use the old photos - taken over twelve years ago! - or the new ones, featuring his upgraded look... But here's a quick example of how he looks now, in the meantime:
So, long story short, I'm glad I got myself a Molotow chrome pen... I got one with a 2mm nib, and I can see myself getting at least one of the smaller sizes in future, for more detailed work. They seem to be easy to work with and, allowing sufficient drying/curing time, the chrome is not as prone to acquiring fingerprints as I'd been led to believe. Can't speak for how hard-wearing it is yet - time will tell.
As to which figures I'm going to look at chroming next... I'm honestly not sure yet. At the very least, I can see myself adding some shine to unpainted hubcaps on many, many toys. Even some of my already-painted customs might benefit by having a touch of chrome added sparingly.
Which reminds me... One of these days, I really need to post about my custom figures...
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